window into a hovel

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

My update to the support group this evening as read by Scott.

Hello everyone,

It is always so good to see everyone. This group and everyone associated with it are in my prayers.

Well, slowly but surly, I continue to make appointments and take test and meet yet more nice individuals in the health care industry. Last week I took something called a mid-evil rack of....oh wait a second; they told me that was a tilt-table test. If you have not had the pleasure of one of these, let me add the following words to your vocabulary..... RUN Away!

I jest. It is nowhere near the worst thing I have had to endure. However, it was not fun. Strapped to a table, hooked up the WA zoo, OK, my chest, taken up to 60 degrees and have a rather charming technician try not to snicker at the funny face I was probably making. Here, let’s give him some Nitro and really have a fun time. Trust me, passing out is never fun. Not to me anyway. While safer than normal as I was strapped into place on a table, everyone seems to forget that my neck mussels are severely lacking in ability to support my head when awake, much less when I am not conscious. That is my fault I suppose as I forgot as well and did not ask for a head restraint. After coming back to reality, took me almost an hour to recoup enough to drive home and hit bed for the remainder of the day. Note, side effect of taking Nitro is a server headache.

I see the doctor this Friday..... do any of you know if it is normal for the condemned soul ahhhh hummm patient, to pass out during a tilt table test?; because I sure did and from the reaction of the inquisitor, ahhh health care technician; I was out for some time.

I have had now most every known test to medical science, not really but I have a pretty awesome resume. Most of my new doctors are always asking me if my medical history is real. I must admit that I get a kick out of breaking in new younger doctors much as was my experience at the Mayo Clinic, but when I have seasoned Doctors in near states of jaw dropping amazement, I confess my little smirk and my Love for all of you for getting me one step closer to the end of all this.

Maybe I am being dishonest, but I really hope there is yet something wrong with my heart and they can tell me to take this pill and you will be better, than not having an answer and in the back of my mind knowing it is probably that damn cancer yet again.I am tired. I am hurting most of the time. I can’t do a lot of the things most people take for granted. But I come to this table every month, and I am blessed by the courage and strength and the sheer desire to live that each of you bring. I am so blessed by each of you and I really wish one meeting I could share with all of you that I was OK and not having my fingers crossed behind my back.

Hopefully, it is nothing. But hay, at least I will have yet another medical related bill to pay. I guess the alternative is a burial plot.

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

This is the newsletter I am sending out to my support group in a day or two.

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Hello Everyone,

I truly hope everyone is safe and secure this day. For all of our friends on the East Coast and the northern Mid-West and New England, our thoughts and prayers are with you. Be safe and be well.

Seldom do I write these newsletter reminders ahead of time. They normally are written on the morning I intend to send them. This week is a little different, as my normal targeted delivery time to you is NOW, I find myself having a day full of testing on a ‘Tilt-Table’ and various personal appointments which promise to keep me busy all day, Yesterday; and I have to be with my mother (nothing serious) just that she has some appointments which I have to attend to early this morning. So, I find myself sitting at this very keyboard and providing you with a reminder of our upcoming meeting. That day, today which I peck at this very keyboard is Halloween.

I find these little bits of my thoughts to you, sometimes conflicted and outdated by virtue of an impending holiday or a seasonal theme which usually transpires at the end of the month in which we are meeting. Like this one. This meeting is much closer to Halloween than to Thanksgiving. So, knowing full well that decorum dictates that I should have some sort of tie in with Thanksgiving, I am going to break with normal tradition and share with you all an invitation to be in the spirit of things not so comforting and most confrontational. It is after all Halloween and we have all just witnessed a most unusual natural occurrence in the land falling of what is the first (in my memory and most everyone else’s memory) a ‘Super Storm’, named Sandy. I have watched and been amazed by weather most of my life; I am often in awe and always respectful in all of its aspects. My heart goes out to all who were affected and I have shared with this group before how I have been affected by nature’s sometime wrath.

Please bear with me and I promise this will come full circle.
Sitting here, today (on Halloween) I was reminded of the October 30, 1938 broadcast of War of the Worlds by Orson Wells. While now, this is considered an icon of both the radio arts and the power of a well told story, it did not deliver the exact message I wanted to pass along to each of you. Here we are just mere days after the horrible devastation of Super Storm Sandy. Now, with all due respect to ancient Mayan sky watchers, with a wink to all of you who see black helicopters and feel that H.A.A.R.P. and the shadow government are in control of us all and in amusing disregard to any and all of the current political persuasions. While I personally don’t buy a penny’s bit of it, I do beg pardon to the dying Polar Bears and all you tweed jacket, pipe smoking, higher education types; ‘global warming’, ‘climate change’ or ‘carbon challenged’ it may be politically correct to be inconvenienced by……. The weather is changing!

This month, I want to take you to 5:12 PM on the evening of November 26, 1977. I want to take you to five separate television stations conveying the news that day on Southern ITV which covers London, the south and southeast of the British Isle.

Some of you may be aware of the importance of that evenings broadcast, but I venture to say most of us are not. That was the evening of the first ‘Hack’ if you will of the airwaves over southern England. I say hack but in 1977 the meaning was a little different. I am not speaking from some ‘pirate’ radio located on a WW2 era abandoned slab of metal in the middle of the water. On five separate stations at five different locations and all under the direction of station management and yes, under the ‘let us say control’ of the British Government an unthinkable, an unbelievable, all be it an impossible thing occurred. News broadcaster Ivor Mills was interrupted for five and one half minutes in an audio only hijacking by the voice of Gramaha of the Ashtar Galactic Command. Some dire warnings were delivered to mankind as to its future and some of the warnings concerned the weather.

Now, some of you are no dough saying to yourselves that I have lost my mind. I have read one too many comic books and I have been living precariously through one of my crazy graphic novels. Well, I challenge you call my bluff and look in up for yourselves. There are several members of our group who have connections to the ‘Mother’ nation. Ask them, they may know of or even heard the event. While I am not one to simply believe any or everything one may read on the internet, here are some search terms which may give you some interesting results:

That should get you started if you have a desire to find out more. I will give you the Reader’s Digest version now.

“We come to warn you of the destiny of your race and your world so that you may communicate to your fellow beings the course you must take to avoid the disasters which threaten your world, and the beings on our worlds around you.”

I am struck by both the crazy deviation which has once again been placed upon us but the force of nature and the Providence of the Lord. I do not know why nor do I pretend to know. It just is. What I do know, is now, in the year 2012, at the end of that year, I am seeing things with my 57 year old eyes, things I have never seen before. I do not know what is to come, but I do know that we need each other to meet the challenge.

Please remember our brothers and sisters, who are in the path of destiny, heed the words of those you trust and have faith in. No matter the words of Orson or even the interruption of the Ashtar Galactic Command; take a second to look around, hug your loved ones, give help in any way you find that you can to those around you less fortunate. The world and its weather are changing for whatever reason. The future is coming, if you’re prepared for it or not.

Don’t forget to mark your calendar for next Tuesday, for two things; please vote and please meet with us at 6:00 PM in the usual spot.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Letter read last night at my Support Group by Chris.

Hello everyone,

Since the last time we met a lot has happened in the world. The earth has moved, water has rose, volcanoes have blown and the Queen (God love her) jumped out of a helicopter!

I will be honest with you all; I have not been feeling well for a few months now. I have been blacking out and I have fallen a few times. I have had several neck thingy bobs, which is technical jargon for Carotid Duplex Ultrasound and MRi. See, neck thingy bob is much more understandable. Blood work up the kazoo and I am in the process of meeting and breaking in several new to me Doctors and helping put their children through college or paying off their mortgages. I am sure they will get use to me soon but I always have fun with health care professionals.

They are always so nice and that’s OK, but after a few minutes going over my medical history they tend to become rather attentive. They quickly realize that the same- o same- o did not just walk in. I tend to have the upper hand in all areas except billing. No one wins that battle.

The long and short of it as of this evening is I don’t know. Tests are still being done and evaluations are still being drawn. May be next month I will have some real news to pass along. Until then, I will continue to uphold my part in the doctor/patient process. (And have a little fun with these guys.

My mom is still with us. It is a slow and rather agonizing process. My prayer every night is that I may outlive her. She is still a blessing to those she is around and I know that inside, she is at peace.

I am not sure about all of you, but I am rather tired of this heat. As we move into September I know the hard part is behind us for another year but this dry heat crap is getting old. I tell friends to turn their oven to 106 and stick their head in that. IT’S A DRY HEAT!

Other than that crap, life is very good and I have so much to be thankful for. Why just last week my daughter in law texted that she wasn’t sure how it happened but I was going to be a grand-father yet again. For those counting; this will be number EIGHT. Damn I’m old!

Issue number 12 of the Justice League with a cover price of $3.99 is selling on e-bay for $25.00. Ha, I got mine. For details, consult Chris!!

I continue to LIVE my friends; I truly hope you don’t mind. I love you all and I wish and pray for you all - happiness and good health.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

As most who follow my FB postings know, I have a big love of N.C. Wyeth’s art. There is just something about his work which speaks to my youth when I read may works which were graced with his talent. The library was a wonderful and magical place for me.

I hope you will become a fan of the website ‘Golden Age Comic Book Stories’.

About Me

Thanks for stopping by.

CONTACT INFORMATION E-Mail:

high praise, personal tokens of life & sources for good reeds may be addressed to:

mageThufer AT gmail DOT com

(after, of course, you close up the spaces, change the "AT" to an "@" and the "DOT" to a "."Spambots delendi sunt.)

Should you, in fact, decide to drop me a note, it is entirely possible that I may decide to publish it unless you tell me not to. And even if you tell me not to, things do get in something of a muddle here; in a fit of absentmindedness, I might publish it anyway. So discretion is always advisable.